The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-09
A BULL BUFFALO.
NATURALIST HORNADAv'S PEN PIcr-
URE OF A GIANT BISON.

/ Majestic PRESENCE Oh DeBhihSo"s oP0Ss-
meu-The Opportunity Of Lifetime-A
sketch from Life with . Vengeance.
The Last Moments.
As the bull saw us coming he staggered 70
bis feet, in spite of his broken leg, and gal
| loped off over the hill But the moment he
| started. nv brown horse-who had more
sense than some men l have seen-imme-
diately gave chase. After short run we
again oyerhauled our prize, on the side OF
hill, near the crest Of which he was once
more halted and stood at bay. Thirty yards
away from him pulled up, and gazed upon
him with genuine establishment Not until
that moment had realized what grand
prize had fallen TO me. He was a perfect
monster in size, and just as superbly hand
some as he was big In his majestic pre-
sence the finest Of all our other buffalo bulls
were quite forgotten, and thought to my
self.
Until this moment have never had an
adequate conception Of the great American
| bison"
He seemed 10 me then, aye, and he does
even now, the grandest quadruped ever
| bcheld lions, tigers and elephants not ex-
ceptei. His huge bulk doomed up like
colossus. and the height of his great shaggy
hump. and the steepness OF its slope down
to his loins, seemed positively incredible.
| Like Barthodi's statue OF liberty, no was
built ON a grand scale His massive head was
crowned by thick mass Of blacklist brown
hair lying in a tumble OF great curly tufts,
sixteen inches long, piled up on each other
crowding back upon his horns almost hiding
them, aud quite onto his shoulders Back Of
! that, his hump and shoulders were covered
with a luXuriant growth OF coarse, straw
colored hair that stood out in tufts SIX inches
long and opened in great dark burrows up
and down whenever the bull moved his head
from me The upper half of each fore leg
vas lost ia "A huge bunch Of long, coarse black
| hair. in which scores OF cookie burrs had
caught and hopelessly tangled. The body
itself and the lOln quarters were covered with
a surprisingly thick coat Of long, fine mouse
color,l hair, without the slightest flaw or
| blemish From head - heel the animal
seemed to possess everything the finest buffalo
I in the world should have and although bS
that time no stranger to his kind | sat gazing
upon him 50 completely absorbed by wonder
CHARGE he might easily have BOWED me over
1t was an opportunity Of lifetime, such
As falls u the lot OF few men whose business
| it is 10 reproduce animal forms | studied
| his lines with absorbing interest and took
one mental photograph Of him after another
as he stood there with lowered head and
angry eyes, watching me intently Several
times his head sank very low, and be Vi
ciousy paved the wet snow with his
wounded fore leg But these intervals Of
anger would pass away, his eyes would lose
some Of their lire. and he would content him
self with simply regarding me.
For good many minutes, | cannot say
how many. | sat there studying my prize,
AMI a. he did not seem seriously inclined 10
CHARGE me. determined 10 make one Or two
outline sketch,-, VI him just as he stood.
Accordingly / slid of my faithful old com
rade- horse 1 should have said-gOt out u
deld note book and pencil, and with my
Winchester lying in tie hollow Of my left
arm ready for use, proceeded 10 make my
sketch 1t was sketch from life with u
vengeance, at u distance Of thirty PAGES
Lot what / wanted after IA fashion, and
although tho result was wholly inartisuc 1t
has since served me we'll
suppose | spent quarter Of an hour N
studying my prize, AMI then | felt 1t was
hiQh time o. end his troubles. II was crue!
t. leep him standing at all, but II was not
done f0r my personal qualification. When
the time came for the death shot, felt az
man feels when he Is compelled 10 Kill
favorite dog Of noble breed had the great
beast completely in my power, nnd was
Obliged 90 be Isis executloner. lie seemed
10 me like the very last one VI his race, that
he knew it as we'll as |, ard he also was
doomed People will say this Is all put on
for effect, but | swear felt a. II / was about
10 commit murder With the greatest reluc-
lance | ever felt about taking the life VI an
animal | shot the noble beast through the
lungs. and ho fell down and died
| could write out that death scene down 70
the smallest details, if wished for | wrote
it all down in my Journal the next night
But it is not pleasant reading aud It makes
my crime seem all the greater believe ]
am getting tender hearted in my old days.
1t seemed to me | never saw an animal die
harder. and his last breath led me 70 cxclaim
feryently
Thank heavenl its over at last"
He was five feet eight inches IN vertical
height at the shoulder, full two inches taller
than the largest Of our other bulls, and the
length of his head and body, in a straight
! line from the end of the nose 10 the rear Of
the thigh, was nine feet two inches His
| girth was eight feet four inches, and his
weight about | go pounds. Like all the
other buffaloes we secured, he was muscular
| from excessive running, but not at ali fat
There was not pound Of fat on him, but he
carried four old bullets that had been fired
into him without effect lie was what old
buffalo hunters call stub horn" and by
the nine rings on each horn we know that he
was either eleven or twelve years Old.
Perhaps by this time | have drawn so
heavily upon my readers stock VI patience
that he will feel inclined 10 take this buffalo
cum granO sails Let me assure you, have
not exaggerated his size one bit lie Is adj
mitted ~ be ''one Of 5000" and be who
doubts il is respectfully referred 10 the old
bull himself, as be now stands, mounted ac-
cording 70 an elaborate series of measure
ments, in the National museum. 1 could
safely challenge the wsrld TO produce his
equal. but modesty folbids my dong So
William 1. Hornaday in Inc Cosmopolitan.